Saturday, August 28, 2010

A Timeline of Beauty: Red Lipstick

Red Lipstick has shaped many lives of woman. The red lip was become so iconic that we come to celebrate a time line of red lovely lips and how it developed till now.

In Ancient Egypt long ago, Cleopatra was the woman of her time. How did she develop the iconic red lip? Ms. Cleo crushed red carmine beetles to make a nice red pigment for her lips.

In 16th Century England Queen Elizabeth of England made her lips piercing red with her ice like skin.

The red lips came back in the 1920s. This was an odd trend before the 1920s but this iconic trend came back for a revival! Now lets start with Louise Brooks (in the picture above). A lovely faced woman who was loved and adorned by many fans in the Silent Film era. Today this name is still heard. She wears her red lips bold and dramatic while keeping her eyes simple yet still domineering.

Also In the 1920s, Clara Bow, Another iconic silent film star followed this trend as well. But unlike Louise Brooks, Clara Bow wore her eyes dark instead of soft and because of this look she developed and created the "It Girl" persona.

In the 1930s Marlene Dietrich, was a beautifully striking actress in her day. The 1930s continued the lipstick trend. Ms. Dietrich worked the dark red lips with elegant thin eyebrows.

Veronica Lake. The sultry actress in the 1940s took on one of the most iconic looks of our time. The long lush waves with the deep side part and topped of with red lips to die for.

Marilyn Monroe was known as the pinup starlet during the 1950s. She donned the red lipstick with her famous smile.

Passing the 1960s and 1970s, the red lip wasn't involved in their makeup trends. During the 1980s, makeup was loud and wild, so you could imagine how the red lip could be perfect in the 80s. Madonna, the ultimate "Material Girl" in the 80s wore big hair, fierce looking eyes, and lips that spoke rebel.

In the 1990s, the makeup trend was "The Grunge Look". 90s icon Courtney Love helped shaped this trend. The lead singer of Hole, wore bright lips, because it was all about making a statement in the 90s.

Today, as known as the 2000s, we don't really have a trend. So, the many starlets of today, such as Sienna Miller in the picture help shape the look of red lips. Some stars do the modern Veronica Lake look or the edgy/grunge red lip such as Taylor Momsen.

So, its important to look back to the real icons who shaped the iconic trend of red lips. Thanks so much and see you next time.